Teachers urged to attend church
TEACHERS at Scottish Catholic schools have been told to go to confession, attend Sunday Mass and develop habits of prayer.
Archbishop Philip Tartaglia of Glasgow said Catholic schools and teachers needed to put Jesus Christ “at their centre” if they were to be good for Scotland. The Archbishop, who is the president of the Scottish Catholic Education Service, made his comments at an annual Mass in St Andrew’s Cathedral.
He said: “We are good for Scotland if Jesus Christ is at the centre of our school communities and Jesus will be at the centre of our school communities if he is at the centre of our teachers’ lives.
“I am convinced that you can make the difference. So I offer you this advice: be conscious of your vocation, of your calling as a Catholic teacher and as a teacher in a Catholic school.
“Rejoice in that calling, for it is a sacred and important calling. Don’t neglect to nourish your own spiritual lives with prayer, with the Word of God and with the Sacraments.”
Archbishop Tartaglia said “good lessons” were central to a teacher’s work and that, when those lessons were permeated by the teacher’s “obviously lived personal Faith in Jesus Christ” pupils could sense it.
He added: “Seek the intercession of Our Lady and of the saints and be sure that your vocation and service as a Catholic teacher is precious and valued by the Catholic community and by me as your bishop.”
Last year, Archbishop Tartaglia issued an urgent plea to Catholics currently working in non-denominational schools to return to the fold.
It came as Catholic schools face a recruitment crisis with a shortage of teachers and headteachers who are members of the faith. Archbishop Tartaglia, who warned of “significant consequences” for schools if his plea goes unanswered, has also called for more young Catholics to consider a career in the teaching profession.
The move comes amid growing concerns that not enough teachers from a Catholic background are being recruited and trained in Scotland. It has been suggested that part of the problem is the controversial requirement for teachers at Catholic schools to be vetted by a priest before they are given a job.
Critics believe different schools operate different policies and the uncertainties put off teachers from applying.